The Secret
by EV Trevor
Summary: Trevor has a secret. Everyone seems to know but the one person who should. A story about love, secrets, friendship.....and Golf!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: page 3 of 3

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Tink

"Damn!" Trevor shouts under his breath as his ball hooked severely to the left leaving the driving range on-the-fly right around the 250 yard marker. Ordinarily the sound of titanium hitting the low compression Titleist is music to his ears, except for what appears to be every 4th shot. "It never fails. Just when I think I have it beat, the dreaded hook comes back. I swear I'm going to beat Conrad senseless the next time I see him."

Emily stares out of the large bay window watching Trevor hit golf balls into what seems to be a black hole. The only light is the one adjacent to the building used to distribute balls and clubs to patrons wanting to hit a bucket. Trevor swings and she can hear a soft metallic sound and then in less than a millisecond the ball disappears into the abyss.

"Samantha, what is he doing out there? It's been dark for over an hour. He can't possibly see where those balls are going." Emily said as she stared through the double pained glass looking out into the driving range built adjacent to Samantha and Trevor's house. "I don't know Emily, he does this sometimes. He says it helps them think."

"Well, all I see him doing hitting a lot of balls and talking to himself." Emily said.

"That's what he does." Samantha said with just a hint of sarcasm as she steps beside Emily and looks out the window at Trevor hitting balls into complete darkness.

"I thought you had lights installed last year. Don't tell me their broken already?" asked Emily. "No they work just fine." Samantha replied. "When it's just him out there he leaves them off. Two years ago he was having some problems at the office with one of the employees. You remember, that medical assistant that was stealing narcotic scripts and filling them out and signing Trevor's name? "

"Yeah, I remember that." Emily replied "What a mess. I know he was pretty upset about that. I thought it all worked out?"

Trevor was a internal medicine physician in a very profitable practice in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. He has spent 2 years in the Army after a brief attempt at college just out of high school. He and Conrad had big plans for their careers. They were going to be big stars, Trevor playing baseball and Conrad joining the PGA. Trevor went to Edinboro University near Erie but got cut from the team for "conduct detrimental to the team." He told his parents he just quit, it wasn't for him. They were furious, he was a scholarship player and now that the money ran out they could not afford to keep him in school. Three weeks later he was in basic training.

He got out of the Army after a couple of years and completed his undergraduate degree at Penn State. Then went on to Temple where he earned his doctorate in medicine as an internist.

Conrad stayed at home and played golf for the local community college where he did very well and transferred to Arizona State and was the NCAA individual champion his senior year.

"It did." said Samantha "but not until almost a year later when they caught her and she confessed to everything. He went through hell trying to keep his name clean, and keep the practices' name out of the headlines. He almost lost his job and his license. I know he didn't really end up physically losing anything, but the way some of the people treated him was really unfair. I think that's what bothered him the most, the fact that his friends and colleagues all thought he was selling prescriptions on the street. They really started treating him differently; he said he never felt so alone in an office full of so many people." Samantha told Emily as they moved from the window back to the kitchen table. "That's when we built this driving range, Trevor really wasn't sure if he would be able to go back, so he said he needed this as a backup."

"So is there something wrong? Why is he out there now?" asked Emily.

"A friend of his from back home called and gave him some bad news." Samantha replied. "He had a childhood friend that was killed in a car accident yesterday."

"Oh my God Samantha, that's terrible! Who was it? Someone he was close to?" Emily exclaimed.

"It was a friend of his from school. Actually it was a friend's sister." Samantha said as she brought the cup of chamomile tea to her lips and took a sip. "He took it pretty hard. The funny thing is I didn't realize they were that close. He never really spoke of her."

"Well" Emily chuckled "maybe it was one of those high school flames."

Samantha said "I doubt it. It was the sister of his best friend growing up."

"You mean Conrad's sister?" asked Emily.

"Yeah that's the one." Samantha said.

Dave Conrad was one of the newest faces on the PGA tour. He had spent almost five years traveling with the Nike tour and in Europe before he won his card in Q school last year. He played in a few tournaments through sponsor exemptions but last year was when he really played well winning three times and finishing 14th in the Masters and making the cut for the players championship.

"It was Dave who gave him the idea to finance the driving range" Samantha said "even though they hadn't spoken in almost two years, somehow Dave knew Trevor was having some trouble and helped set this up for him."

"That's terrible Samantha. Isn't there a big tournament coming up soon? Doesn't Conrad have to play in it?" Emily asked.

"It's the biggest tournament of the year Emily, it's the U.S. Open."

"I can't imagine trying to play a big tournament like that after losing your sister." Emily said. "How do you think he would have done?"

"Well the top four guys are going to be there so they are always favored, but Trevor said Conrad has a great chance at finishing in the top 10" said Samantha while she got up for the table to put more water on the stove for tea.

"I wonder if he will still play?" Emily said.

"I don't really know him that well, I mean I have only met him a few times, but from some of the things Trevor has told me I'm sure he'll play."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: page 3 of 3

"Trevor?" Samantha said cautiously as she sat on the bench directly behind were he was hitting golf balls. "It's almost 10:30 at night, don't you want to come in for the evening, we have a big day tomorrow."

Samantha was referring to the 4 hour drive from Harrisburg to Latrobe, PA, a rural town just outside of Pittsburgh, where Trevor was raised.

"I just want to finish this bucket, I'll be in a few minutes." Trevor said.

"Trevor, are you OK? I mean I know Margie was your friend and she was your best friend's sister, but it's been a long time since I've seen you this upset."

"Yeah I know, I have just been thinking. Margie had a little girl, the father left six years ago as soon as he found out she was pregnant. The only contact he had in six years was the monthly check he sends her. That's what I've been thinking about out here the whole time, where is Hannah going to go. I'm sure her father wants nothing to do with her and Margie's mom is in her 60's; there is just no way she can take care of a six-year-old."

"Trevor I haven't even thought about that. I totally forgot about her daughter." Samantha said as she hugged herself and felt the tears well up in her eyes.

"Dave is on tour now, and he and his wife are struggling now with her at home all the time trying to raise their three kids and without him being there." Trevor said as he launched another ball into deep space. "I have been out here thinking Samantha. What if we were to take Hannah. I don't mean to be blunt, I know this has been a sensitive issue for us, but the fertility procedures just aren't working, and the adoption process takes absolutely forever."

"Trevor, I know how you must feel." Samantha said

"Right Samantha, you know how I must feel, but you won't even consider it will you." Trevor made it a statement more than a question.

"Trevor, what are you saying? This is a huge step." Samantha sighed. "How do you even know that this can happen, how can you be so sure that her father will not want her or that her grandmother would even agree to this? I'm sure there are quite a few people in that family that will be willing to take her. People that are her own blood, I can't believe that this would even be an option for us."

"Samantha I just have a feeling. I remember a few years ago Margie and I were just sitting around talking. She had made a comment that if something ever happened to her she wanted us to take Hannah."

"Trevor!" Samantha exclaimed. She could feel the tears coming along with her anger. "Why didn't you ever say anything to me? I mean, this is a relatively important decision that you and her have made and you didn't even think to get my opinion, much less have the courtesy to inform me?"

I knew this was coming Trevor thought to himself. I knew she would react like this, when that Irish temper blows there's no stopping her. "Samantha. We didn't make plans, we were sitting around talking like we have done a hundred times before and she just made the comment. I didn't think anything of it until now."

"You mean to tell me that you remember a conversation that you had with Margie four years ago after standing here trying to tell me that it was insignificant?" Samantha says as she is fighting to hold back the tears. "Trevor I'm tired of you shutting me out of your life and not talking to me. Yes this may be innocent, but obviously you have thought this to be more than just a chance comment made a few years ago."

"Oh for Gods sake Samantha, it was just a thought. I thought with all the problems we've been having trying to conceive, this is something we should consider. When I spoke to Barbara..."

"What!" Samantha cut Trevor off before he could finish his sentence. Barbara is Dave Conrad and Margie's mother; Hannah's grandmother. "I thought this was just a random thought, you actually talked to Barbara about this, without saying a word to me? And when did you plan on telling me Trevor? When I have to put her on the bus for her first day of school?"

"Sam" Trevor said as he walked toward her, sat down beside her started to rub her back.

"Don't Sam me, Trevor. So what other plans you made and not told me about."

I knew I had to choose my words carefully, Samantha was getting ready to blow. "Sam I know I should have said something to you earlier, but what would I have said, now that Margie's gone let's take her kid? I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do it. I just needed some time to think about it."

"Don't you dare try to justify this by turning it on me Trevor." Samantha said between breaths as her respiratory rate got faster and faster, almost hyperventilating. "Why wouldn't you talk to me. You never talk to me Trevor, sometimes I feel I am here just for a convenience. I am your wife, this is a decision we should have made together!"

"Samantha I'm sorry, I know I should have said something to you, and I know I haven't always been able to tell you how I feel, but this is the right thing to do. I feel it in my gut. We can make something good happen out of this tragedy. I can't tell you how sorry I am, I know I was wrong, but it's something we should consider."

Trevor always had a special power over Samantha to piss her off to the point where she wanted to kill him and two seconds later make her realize why she married him in the first place, and sometimes she hated him for it, and this was one of those times.

"Well then" Samantha sobbed "what did you and Barbara talk about, what does she think about this whole thing?"

"We have a meeting with an attorney the day after the funeral" Trevor said as Samantha buried her face into his chest and started to cry.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three page 2 of 2

"Samantha!" Trevor shouted up the stairs. "Samantha! Come on Samantha I wanted to leave by 8 a.m.!" Trevor threw the bags in the trunk their 2007 Mustang Cobra and went back into the house.

It was almost six years ago. Trevor's first week in this new town, he hadn't even finished unpacking from the move. From the very first time he set eyes on Samantha he knew she was the one. It was at the local mall in Camp Hill, PA. He was standing at a kiosk looking for a pair of sunglasses. Trevor had just started to slide a pair of sunglasses on when he noticed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walking front of him. As she walked by she looked at him and he locked in on her, staring into her beautiful brown eyes. He now understood what was like to be caught looking at Medusa, he couldn't take his eyes away from her. Just as he was sliding the sunglasses over the bridge of his nose the tag had poked him right in the eye. Trevor made some sort of Cro-Magnan man grunt as he threw off the glasses and grabbed his right eye.

"Are you alright?" Trevor heard a voice from behind him a few seconds later as he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder.

"Yeah I'm OK, I just lost my contact that's all." Trevor was lying through his teeth and he was sure whoever this person was didn't believe him but he had to try and save a little face.

"Lost your contact huh? Do you always yell out superlatives and throw sunglasses at a young girls' mother at the mall? The voice said as she was obviously holding back a giggle.

"What the..." Trevor started to say as he looked up and saw the beautiful girl standing in front of him with her hand on his shoulder. As Trevor panned to her left he saw a woman almost as beautiful but 20 years older, smiling at him, and twirling a pair of sunglasses between her fingers.

Trevor felt the heat of the blood rushing to his head and started to stagger backwards as he became lightheaded. "Whoa, the older woman said you better sit down for a minute." As Trevor sat down on the bench outside of Talbots the older woman said "my name is Terri and this is my daughter Samantha."

And this starts the relationship of Trevor and Sam.

99 of the time Trevor was head over heels in love with Samantha, but it is times like this that really frustrated him.

Trevor let out a loud grunt as he started up the stairs after her. "Come on Samantha, we really need to get moving. Were going to..."

Trevor stopped dead his tracks as he stood in the doorway to their bedroom and saw this beautiful woman that he fell in love with six years ago. She was standing at the foot of the bed with nothing but a white cotton towel draped across her chest stopping just above her thigh.

Samantha just smiled at him with that smile that only she can give and said "are you sure you want to leave right now?" Trevor moved in close to her, wrapping his arms around her and started to loosen the towel behind her back. Samantha stopped him by laying a single finger across his lips and said "no more secrets right?" Trevor knew he had just one more secret but this was not the time to confess. "I promise, no more secrets." he said.

Samantha just giggled as Trevor heard the soft thump of the wet towel hitting the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Page 2 of 2

Trevor and Samantha had been driving on the Pennsylvania turnpike for over an hour before either of them said a word.

"So Trevor, are you OK." Samantha inquired.

"Yeah. I'm fine, why do you ask?" Trevor said.

"Well" Samantha said. "You haven't said word for almost an hour."

"I don't know, I've just been thinking about this whole thing. I can't believe she's gone. It just all seems so pointless anymore." Trevor said in a monotone voice.

"What's pointless?" Samantha asks.

"Margie never hurt anyone. This wasn't cancer, it wasn't some freakish disease, it was some asshole hit-and-run driver. There is no way it was her time." Trevor said with a slight crack in his voice.

Samantha reached over across the console and slid her fingers between his. Trevor closed his hand around hers and lifted it slowly to his lips where he gently kissed the back of her hand.

Samantha looked at him and said "Trevor you can't say that, how do we know when our time is? You just don't know, that's why you have to live every day like it was your last."

"I'm sorry honey, I know how you must feel." Samantha said.

I don't think she can even begin to think how I feel Trevor thought to himself. Just as he was getting ready to tell Samantha his secret The Freshman by the Verve Pipe came on the radio and Samantha reached with her left hand and turned the volume up. "I love this song" Samantha told him.

"Hey" Trevor said "there is a Dunkin' Donuts at the next exit, what do say we stop for a bagel and some coffee for breakfast?

"You bet" Samantha snickered. "I did work up an appetite this morning you know."

Trevor just smiled as he put on his right turn signal to change lanes and get off the next exit ramp. As he looked to his right to check his blind spot he saw Samantha sitting in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, gently nodding her head to the rhythm and singing softly to herself with the radio. He couldn't help but think how much he loved her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Page 3 of 3

Trevor picked up their empty tray and stacked it on top of the trash can as Samantha grabbed their coffee and headed toward the door. Trevor opened the door for her and then followed her to the parking lot.

As Samantha started to fasten her seat belt Trevor slid the key in the ignition and started the car. It growled like a science fiction animal as the engine of the Mustang Cobra turned over and started. "I don't know what it is with you two." Samantha said matter-of-factly. "What is this fascination that you and Conrad have with cars?"

"I don't know" Trevor answered. "It's just something we've always liked. I remember as kids we would walk to the strip and watch the older kids as they raced around trying to impress the girls. We just both liked the Mustangs, they were always the coolest cars."

"Well it looks like they impressed more than just the girls." Samantha said jokingly. "You know we could have brought my car, we wouldn't have to stop three times for gas."

"Yeah... but..." Trevor started to say before Samantha interrupted him.

"I know... I know...Mr. Macho will lose too much credibility if he shows up in a Volkswagen. I wouldn't want you to lose your guy card" Samantha laughed as she looked to her left and saw Trevor smiling.

"What was Margie like?" Samantha asked.

Samantha watched Trevor as his facial expression took a complete 180. She could see him start to frown and lose much of the color in his face. She wasn't sure but she thought she could see tears start to form in his eyes. "I'm sorry Trevor, it's OK, we don't have to talk about."

"No, it's all right. I just keep forgetting you never really knew her or any of my friends that well." Trevor said. "I don't really know how to explain it, she was really very nice, she was my best friends little sister. At home we picked on her mercilessly as kids but as she got older and develop into a beautiful young woman we found ourselves defending her and being her watchdogs whenever we went out. Conrad will tell you that she was spoiled rotten, but she played the role perfectly."

"What do you mean? Samantha asked. "What role did she play? Was she spoiled or not?"

"To some extent yes she was, but not more than any of the other 50 million youngest child siblings in any family. Conrad used to get so pissed when he thought she was getting any kind of favoritism. She played him like a fool sometimes."

"How?" Samantha asked.

"She would do little things just to dig at him. She would just make little comments to her mother or father when she was sure that he was around and she would just look at me and smile. I remember one time, when we were sophomores in high school, it was skip day and Margie found out Conrad and I were cutting class for the day. I had my mom drop me off down the street from Conrad's on her way to work. I told her he had a science project or something due and I was going to help him take it into class. When I walked down the lane Conrad opened the door of his dad's RV and I jumped in. We were going to wait it out until everyone left and then we were just going to go inside and hang out. Some kid in his neighborhood gave him this adult movie and we're going to watch it."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Samantha laughed. "It was your high school skip day and you two were going to sit around at home and watch a porn?" Samantha's laughter got louder. "Loooooooser!"

Trevor was laughing now "yeah I know, but we had never seen one before and we were too afraid to go out of the house because it was during baseball season if we got caught coach would rip us a new one."

"This is a classic" Samantha said. "I can't wait to hear the rest of this."

"So we are sitting there in his dad's camper peeking through the curtain watching everyone as they leave for the day. First his older sister left and then his brother. His dad was long gone, he started work really early. I saw Margie opening the door and start to walk out and her mom was right behind her. Margie walked up to the passenger side to of her mom's car and started to opened it up when Conrad jumps up and starts yelling ...that's bullshit!" Trevor is laughing so hard now he has to pause briefly before he can continue on with the story. "So I jumped on top of him and I grab this pillow and hold it on his face so we won't get caught. I can hear his muffled screams, ...that spoiled bitch is getting a ride to school! I'm laughing so hard I can't stand it anymore when his mom opens the door and sees us there."

"Well what did she do? Samantha asked. "Why was Conrad so mad?"

"Because any time he missed the bus or slept in he had to walk to school." Trevor said. "His mom just stared at us and asked us what we were doing. I could see Margie standing behind her and peeking at us underneath her arm smiling. Somehow I knew she knew we were there and she knew he would react this way."

"We just stared at each other so I'd looked her the eye, smiled, held up the video and said it's skip day and we have porn!" Trevor laughed.

Samantha and Trevor are both laughing hysterically now. Samantha says "you have got to be kidding me, you confessed just like that?

"Yeah I knew we were busted, and we were going to end up going to school anyway, so I thought why not, push his buttons even more." Trevor said. "His mom told us she is calling the school and 30 minutes and if were not there were in trouble. She turned around and her and Margie got in the car and drove away." Trevor was still laughing and wiping away tears at this point. "By the end of the day Conrad was still pissed and plotting ways to get back at her."

"Oh my God, that is hysterical! So have they always had these sibling rivalries?" Samantha asked.

"No. They kissed and made after a year or so of the same pranks and became really good friends." Trevor said.

Samantha asked "so what made Conrad see the light?"

"What do you think? Trevor said. "Margie grew up to be a very beautiful woman, and beautiful girls have beautiful friends."

They were both laughing uncontrollably now. Samantha couldn't remember the last time they had laughed so hard.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Page 2 of 2

Trevor had made a right turn at the old log house just down the road from his parents. The log house was the original farmhouse that owned much of the land for as far as you could see. Trevor's parents owned 3 acres on top of a portion of the Laurel Mountain range, part of the Appalachians called the Youngstown Ridge.

"Trevor" Samantha said. "It's so beautiful out here, why did you ever leave this place?"

"Yeah I know, it's a great place to live and raise a family, but when the steel mills shut down, so did the economy." Trevor explained.

"Have you ever thought about moving back?" Samantha asked.

"Sure." Trevor said. "All the time, but I have the practice now, the range, you, I've made a life for myself in Harrisburg. Things are just too uncertain around here anymore. It would be a huge risk starting over now."

"It wouldn't be that much of a risk." Samantha stated. "You're the primary partner in your practice, you know they have been just waiting for the chance to buy you out, the money you made from that you can easily establish another practice here."

Why is she bringing this up now, Trevor thought to himself. But if anyone knows it would be Samantha, she has been managing his office for almost five years now. " Samantha, we have never talked about moving much less selling the practice, why all of a sudden do you bring this up now, how long have you been thinking about this?"

"I haven't really thought about it that much." Samantha said "it's just that lately I can really see that you're unhappy with the practice and you get this look in your eye if either one of us even mention this place."

Trevor had to laugh. It never fails, she has always been able to read him like a book. Samantha has a very unique talent, one that has enabled her to pull his practice from red to black in just one year. It's not that she was some kind of financial genius, she's very good, but her real talent is she can smell bullshit a mile away. She was instrumental in hiring key staff members that enabled the practice to thrive and not only bringing new patients but keep them so happy that Trevor had to stop taking new patients after two years. He hired two nurse practitioners in his third year because he just couldn't keep up with the workload. He had the best advertisement money could buy, word-of-mouth. She was also able to bring in the right partnerships with drug reps, equipment suppliers, and other medical organizations, to keep their operational expenses to a bare minimum, especially during the early years.

Trevor turned into the lane and could see his father right where he expected him to be. For the last 35 years of life he could not remember a summer morning that his father was not out in his garden. Trevor's father had retired a few years ago from the local high school. He was initially hired as an industrial arts teacher, but shortly after became the vice principal and later principal for almost 25 years. The grass could go uncut for three weeks but the garden was always meticulously maintained.

"Samantha, are you really serious about this?" Trevor inquired.

"Well it was just a thought." Samantha said "I haven't really given it much consideration; it just sort of hit me as we were driving up the mountain."

"OK, fine. I'm certainly not opposed to it, but I haven't really given it any serious thought." Trevor said. "But please just do me a favor, keep it a random thought for now and don't say a word to my parents. You know my mother, if she caught wind of this it would only take her a day to have the welcome home party planned."

"Alright." Samantha laughed. "It's our secret."

Our secret, Trevor moaned to himself. He knew he would have to talk to Samantha soon. But the timing was just never right. But time is running out. He had better make it soon, very soon.


End file.
